Non‐verbal mate retention behaviour in women and its relation to couple's relationship adjustment and satisfaction

The function of mate retention strategies is to preserve the bond between romantic partners and to prevent desertion, which is also why such behaviours are often elicited by the presence of a potential rival. Most existing studies on mate retention are based on self‐reports, which are prone to various biases. In this study, we observed non‐verbal behaviour of 47 long‐term romantic heterosexual couples during their interview with a female experimenter, whom the women in the couples may have perceived as a potential rival. We measured non‐verbal displays of mate retention tactics (direct guarding, intimacy inducement, appearance enhancement, and love and care display), as well as relationship maintenance strategies of openness and positivity. We expected that relationship quality as reported by both partners in the couple would be positively associated with ‘benefit‐provisioning’ mate retention behaviours and negatively associated with a ‘cost‐inflicting’ mate retention tactic (direct guarding). Relationship quality was assessed by Spanier's Dyadic Adjustment Scale using both the total score of dyadic adjustment and a Dyadic Satisfaction subscale. We found a significant association between both partners' dyadic adjustment and satisfaction and woman's appearance enhancement behaviours (such as self‐touch, hair flip and primp) in the presence of her partner and a potential rival. We also found a negative association between partner's dyadic adjustment and woman's direct guarding of partner using short looks, and a positive association between woman's intimacy‐inducing behaviour using long gaze and her own dyadic satisfaction and her partner's dyadic adjustment. Our results highlight the specific role of female attractiveness in later stages of romantic relationships within the context of mate retention and draw attention to the significance of the use of observational techniques in addition to self‐reports.     

Patients' direct experiences as central elements of placebo analgesia

Placebo analgesic effects appear to be related to patients' perception of the therapeutic intervention. In this paper, we review quantitative findings of how the relationship with the physician and the verbal suggestions given for relief may influence patients' perception of a treatment and how patients' expectations and emotional feelings may affect treatment outcome. We also present qualitative data from interviews with patients who have experienced pain relief following a placebo or an active treatment. A special focus is given to the temporal development of placebo analgesia at psychological and neurophysiological levels. Finally, we discuss the extent to which the quantitative and qualitative findings supplement or contrast with each other, and we touch upon possible implications of patients' direct experience as central for placebo analgesia.     

How placebo responses are formed: a learning perspective

Despite growing scientific interest in the placebo effect and increasing understanding of neurobiological mechanisms, theoretical conceptualization of the placebo effect remains poorly developed. Substantial mechanistic research on this phenomenon has proceeded with little guidance by any systematic theoretical paradigm. This review seeks to present a theoretical perspective on the formation of placebo responses. We focus on information processing, and argue that different kinds of learning along with individuals' genetic make-up evolved as the proximate cause for triggering behavioural and neural mechanisms that enable the formation of individual expectations and placebo responses. Conceptualizing the placebo effect in terms of learning offers the opportunity for facilitating scientific investigation with a significant impact on medical care.     

The placebo effect and the autonomic nervous system: evidence for an intimate relationship

For many subjectively experienced outcomes, such as pain and depression, rather large placebo effects have been reported. However, there is increasing evidence that placebo interventions also affect end-organ functions regulated by the autonomic nervous system (ANS). After discussing three psychological models for autonomic placebo effects, this article provides an anatomical framework of the autonomic system and then critically reviews the relevant placebo studies in the field, thereby focusing on gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and pulmonary functions. The findings indicate that several autonomic organ functions can indeed be altered by verbal suggestions delivered during placebo and nocebo interventions. In addition, three experimental studies provide evidence for organ-specific effects, in agreement with the current knowledge on the central control of the ANS. It is suggested that the placebo effects on autonomic organ functions are best explained by the model of 'implicit affordance', which assumes that placebo effects are dependent on 'lived experience' rather than on the conscious representation of expected outcomes. Nevertheless, more studies will be needed to further elucidate psychological and neurobiological pathways involved in autonomic placebo effects.     

Verbal Aspects of Dreaming: A Preliminary Classification

Despite the fact that a handful of modern dream researchers have called attention to a link between language and dreaming, beginning with Freud (1900) and Kraepelin (1906), and continuing to the present (e.g. Heynick 1993), much remains to be understood about the role of language in dreaming. Certain commonly reported phenomena may be taken as evidence that the linguistic system is active during dreaming. Four categories of dream phenomena are described and illustrated to support the claim that verbal thought is an important component of dream formation and content.     

Genetic variability within the innate immune system influences personality traits in women

Raised levels of inflammation markers have been associated with several mental disorders; however, studies regarding the relationship between inflammation or the immune system and various aspects of human behaviour are not numerous. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether an association exists between personality traits and two single nucleotide polymorphisms located in genes that are associated with the innate immune system. The studied population consisted of 42-year-old women recruited from the population registry that had been assessed by means of Karolinska Scales of Personality, a self-reported inventory. The first polymorphism, +1444C>T (rs1130864), is located in the gene coding for C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of low-grade inflammation. The T-allele has previously been suggested to be linked to raised serum levels of CRP. The second polymorphism, Y402H (1277T>C, rs1061170), is located in the gene coding for complement factor H, an important regulator of the complement system. The C-allele has consistently been associated with age-related macular degeneration. While the +1444T allele was associated with higher scores in the personality traits impulsiveness, monotony avoidance and social desirability, the 1277C polymorphism was associated with higher scores in verbal aggression and lower scores in social desirability. In conclusion, the associations between the personality traits and the studied polymorphisms further support the possible influence of the immune system on mental functions.     

Dreamwork and Nightmares With Incarcerated Juvenile Felons.

Do juvenile felons suffer nightmares? Can dreamwork be useful with this population? After a review of the generally older and limited literature on these issues, 2 new surveys and several case examples give positive answers to these questions. In Study 1, 50 of 100 adolescent male felons reported dreams and 12 reported nightmares. In Study 2, with the addition of a follow-up prompt, 73 of 100 adolescent male felons reported dreams within the prior month and 13 reported nightmares. Seven case examples illustrate verbal interventions for nightmares, and 5 case examples illustrate benefits youths could derive from dreamwork. Suggestions for further research are given. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testosterone, cognition, and social status

What leads some people to perform better than others on certain cognitive tasks? One explanation involves individual differences in testosterone. Testosterone is associated with higher performance on spatial tests, and lower performance on verbal tests. However, a large literature suggests that testosterone only predicts behavior when status is in jeopardy. In the present study, we manipulated status before administering a spatial and verbal test. In a high-status position, high-testosterone individuals performed well on both tests, and blood pressure dropped. In a low-status position, high-testosterone individuals performed relatively poorly on both tests, and blood pressure did not change. These data suggest that differences in cognitive performance stem from an interaction between testosterone and the social situation.     

The Dream as Text, The Dream as Narrative

The concepts of text and narrative are reviewed in terms of their appropriate application to the study of dreams. It is proposed that, once experienced, all dreams are texts, but that not all of these texts are narratives. Blending Jung's proposal for the form of the average dream with basic terms from narratology, dream data are employed in order to examine the narrativity of dreams, and by way of inquiring into cognitive aspects of narrative structure. Questions about the relation between language and narrative structure on the one hand, and between dreaming and language on the other are also briefly taken up.